European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The switch in stories by Robert Lindsey new York times the Story of How syn anon evolved from a world acclaimed drug rehabilitation Agency into what California officials have described As a authoritarian cult with violent Over tones is being largely in the words of Charles the in a California syn anon has sued the american broadcasting company for asserting that it was lib eled in a network As part of this who has refused to discuss the organization with reporters for More than two was questioned by Abc attorneys for a total of 10 Days Between Early May and investigators familiar with syn anon say his deposition and other evidence being produced in the suit Are provid ing he first inside View of the changes within Synanonh commune like they the documents provide unusual insight into the techniques by which certain religious groups led by charismatic As Well As profitable self enrichment attract and keep during the As shown by a copy of the transcript obtained by the new York Dederich repeatedly invoked his fifth amendment right against Sci incrimination in response to questions about reports of beatings and other instances of alleged violence by the but he spoke candidly about the origins of its evolution into what he called a business with assets of More than and his own it he As has become known in song and with his investment of to found an innovative treatment Center for drug addicts in Santa in Dederich he became More famous than Santa we had enormous amounts of he we had All the big ones everything but readers More people knew about me than knew about world War according to various surveys we worldwide publicity about his Success in treating what he called dope fiends brought syn anon millions of dollars in gifts from corporations and government Agen and by Dederich said in the he was a Rich he boasted of acquiring Antiques and expensive furniture and motor vehicles and office equipment Superior to that of the lawyers who were interrogating thousands of Young dropouts from the social turbulence of the 1960s began to crowd around Dede not to break a drug habit but to pursue his vision of i say this with As much humility As i am Capa which int very Dederich said at one but when i sit Down and Start to people Start it is no matter where i do it just i cant Stop the transcript contains Dederichs answers to questions about the milestones of the groups transformation when he decided to Stop for All syn anon members then he ordered male members to have vasectomies and married members to divorce and change partners with each he declared syn anon a religion there was a huge Purchase of guns for the Security Force called the Impe rial and finally an attack with a Rattlesnake on an outside critic in that according to court Dederich told some of his aides we re not going to mess with the old time turn the other Cheek dont mess with us it could get you killed dead that is our interpretation of what a religious posture should i want an ear in a Glass of in preparation for the Abc attorneys questioned Bernard a former syn anon member who asserted that he knew of More than a dozen instances of violent action against defectors and approved by Syna non documents from syn anon records attached to the depositions appear to support at least some of his now who lives in a syn anon facility at pleaded no contest last summer to charges that he conspired to use a Rattlesnake in an attempt to kill Paul a lawyer who had won a judgment against syn anon on behalf of some defectors from the Dederich was fined placed on five years probation and ordered not to participate actively in run Ning Dederich said syn anon the name conies from an addicts mispronunciation of had attracted about members Over its 22year it now has about 700 members and extensive prop erties in California and Dederichs Daugh is the groups titular Synanonh such As Sale of office supplies and were helped by the emotional Appeal of a self help program for drug by its tax exempt status and by having in was a growing free labor Force of Young As the years rolled Dederich we became More and More with the use of a lot of surplus material provided by the general services he added that All our Cash needs Are taken care of by our business he was like a rather mature successful american corporation who knows pretty Well what its in he Synanonh businesses took in about million the bad publicity that followed the rattle Snake attack in october of that year had probably Cut into sales lightly since he i have a reputation for being a rather powerful speak he i make my living that in his he said he had exerted influence Over members through a technique he invented called the syn anon it is a kind of group therapy in which members subject each other to intense verbal the who specializes in Legal problems of dealing with cult like said in an inter View that his analysis of the detailed descriptions of the syn anon game in the deposition had reaffirmed his conviction that religious Cults and so called self enrichment programs used Many of the same brain washing techniques used by China against american prisoners in the korean Morantz such organizations use various techniques to strip away a new members frequently by verbal abuse or antagonistic questioning after the new member has been made extraordinarily tired through deprivation of sleep or strenuous he a reverse process begins the group Leader manipulates some kind of a Peak emotional experience they give you some kind of a psychological High after which the group offers you conditional love and this Morantz makes the newcomer highly dependent upon the group for emotional support and Sel Confidence and makes it difficult for bin or her to leave the mos such he try to break Mem Bers c 3nnections with their Are infuriated when a about ded Washin trouble school be Usei ask you All he pro member decides to leave and become paranoid investigations by news organizations Rich acknowledged in his deposition that brain was used in the syn anon we try to Wash All things out of a persons brain that got him into and clean him up and Nice and like any he brainwashing is a word that can synonymously with d whether he had once told i made and i can make you All he said that ably but said there was nothing wrong with it because it was part of his Patter with i was something like a he he compared himself to Knute the football whom he had seen stirring up players before he had dropped out of the University of notre if it was the press that first made Dederich a kind of National giving him the visibility that allowed syn anon to raise Money and his comments indicated As he saw it was the press that had largely caused Synanonh recent comes to Lake Havous City in Lake Hatasu a Remote new town on the shores of the Colorado the residents Are finding that they have More to talk about these Days than the the rising Cost of housing and whether their social Security checks will arrive late syn anon is the California drug abuse rehabilitation organization whose Charles recently pleaded no contest to a charge that he had conspired to kill a critic with a the organization has spent millions of dollars to buy businesses and real estate in Lake Hatasu City and has relocated More than 150 of its members the move began almost two years but it did not arouse much controversy until 27 youths were enrolled in local schools in and All were said to have the same a syn anon in a Community with an idyllic image of itself and whose Commerce is based on tourism and real estate Many people look at the growing presence of syn anon As a kind of invading Force from an alien were a conservative Middle american Community when you get these you have to said Joyce the cites vice you have to worry when a religious cult comes in and starts trying to buy a few people have adopted a More tolerant attitude toward the dont people have a right to live and worship As they choose de a but his View seems to be in the if you look at the pattern Here so said Lee who owns a radio its identical to what they did in communities in and califor Nia Law enforcement people have told me were in for a Dederich founded syn anon in 1958 to help drug and alcohol addicts kick their his Early widely reported in the press and on brought Dederich International and Synanonh emphasis on without govern ment financial was instrumental in persuading scores of american corporations to contribute millions of dollars in Cash and merchandise to in the organization was said to be Worth More than million by the but by things had begun to go according to its former in the late 1960s former members would later Lee a radio station has been telling Lake Hatasu City residents what syn anon has done syn anon changed in nature from a drug rehabilitation Center into a kind of utopian commune whose members lived under Dederichs leadership at Large ranches and other facilities in former members would also charge that Dederich began to be increasingly authoritarian he announced new York times that syn anon was a and when news organizations reported on the they were often met by libel la the there were increasing reports of defectors from the group being harassed and in some cases in october after he had won a court judgment against Paul a los an Geles was seriously injured by the bite of a rattle Snake placed in a Dederich and two members of the groups Security Lance Kenton and Joseph were arrested for planning that in after pleading no contest to the was fined placed on five year probation and ordered to drop any leadership role in the two other men were sentenced to oneyear terms in now syn anon is facing these problems contributions have virtually ceased since the rattle Snake and recruiting of new members has Plum meted Law enforcement officials say membership has dropped to less than 700 from More than a year the California attorney generals office is consid ering filing criminal charges against present and former syn anon that action results at least partly from new allegations of violence involving syn anon made by a former member in a libel Case brought by the organization against the american broadcasting several key leaders of the including Dan Gar a lawyer and Long Dederichs righthand have left the leaving Dederichs in although some Law enforcement officials believe her father is still Active in the Legal analysts say that syn anon stands a Good Chance of being forced to pay More than million in attorney fees to time because the organization failed to produce documents in its despite a court order to do in a libel suit against the Magazine publisher that it later Morantz has a suit pending against syn anon for million in according to a tape recording of Dederich obtained by the he decided three years after visiting this area on a trip to Las that syn anon should relocate he designated it As the the organizations Way of referring to his a new Home place subsequently Pur chased More than 20 pieces of real including several houses and apartment a Motel and a Charles who turned his syn anon alcohol and drug rehabilitation program into a religious cult and Multi million Dollar business 1972 around he he and other syn anon officials became increasingly apprehensive about published most of which were based on information from syn anon defectors who complained of Dederichs authoritarian Rule and unwillingness to accept and other he acknowledged he had carried a gun and had endorsed Synanonh formation of a Security unit equipped with enough guns and ammunition for 150 he also said he did not resist members proposals to follow and otherwise harass executives of news organizations whose reporters had written critically of i will do anything i can to attract the attention of these people to my he if you so they will Call off their asked about the effect of the he said i will say that the sensational no that the press has treated the american Public it probably Cost syn anon in the past two or three i would somewhere in the neighbourhood of million to because we had every right to expect very Large earnings on our we were just arriving at a Point where we were going to move into a very Large Public jogging members of Page 14 the stars and stripes furniture store is one of 20 real estate properties bought at Lake Hatasu City by Synan unrelated Home place furniture a furniture factory and other the full extent of the investment at Lake Hatasu As Wel As the number of syn anon members that have moved to the has not been syn anon officials refuse to respond to queries from the Dederich is said to be living at the moment in one of organizations California properties and is said not to be in Good Shoblom estimates that syn anon has spent More than million although the reports of the Rattlesnake attack promoted the chamber of Commerce to deny membership to syn anon enterprises and caused talk of a consumer it was the arrival of 27 highs Woolage syn anon members this fall that was the major stimulus of the current this is a very churchgoing Harman and when you bring in children whole been separated from their its antithetical to the concept of family life that we believe in the Economy also appears to be a local Harman dont like the idea of paying taxes to finance schooling of people considered out next year syn anon May bring in 60 she i had two parents Call me who were very indignant because in a math a student had asked to recite the syn anon and the teacher allowed the stars and stripes Page 15